Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda. INQUIRER file photo
MANILA, Philippines—The Palace was elated Wednesday by news that the Philippines was one of five countries with improved internal peace and order conditions.
“This is international recognition of our collective effort to address the safety and security of our people,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said. He was reacting to the Philippines’ two-notch jump in the annual report of the state of peace in the world as reported by the Institute for Economics and Peace.
The Philippines now ranks 133th from 135th last year on the Global Peace Index. The institute said that the Philippines “showed a robust rise across a number of indicators.”
The Palace quoted the report as saying that the Philippines improved on four indicators of the state of peace in a country—homicide rate, the number of deaths from internal conflict, the likelihood of violent demonstrations and the incidence of terrorist acts.’
Lacierda said this confirmed the report of the Philippine National Police that there was a 24 percent drop in crime volume last year compared to 2010.
“The PNP has also noted a further decline in the total crime rate by 16.77 percent in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the same quarter last year,” he said in a statement.